A note on "Eco" boards

Surfboard manufacturing is a very toxic industry.

Resins, solvents, foam and glass fabric waste, tape, paint, pigments, mask filters. There are so many components and unseen waste that hover there, below the surface, just out of sight of the end user. I am no different. Although I make an effort to recyle and minimize material waste when I can, its an just unavaoidable fact that no matter what you do, an absurd amout of very toxic waste is generated when maunfactuing surfboards.

Ive taken the approach of "sustainability through durability" and low numbers and I believe its really the only logical approach to lessening my impact on the environment. I only build a small quantity of custom order boards per year, and I build them big and heavy. Not many people's idea of what they would prefer to surf but im happy keeping a small clientele of people stoked and catching waves on boards they can give to their kids. Selling shirts and hats helps.

Theres alot of greenwashing going on with phrases like "Eco boards" and "Sustainable surf" and while I believe these peoples intentions are good, I feel that by using these phrases as a marketing agent, they decieve customers into thinking they are buying something that has less impact on the environment or is somehow better than the industry standard. Sustainable surfboards, using the seventy year old construction techiques that are still the industry standard, are just not possible. Even with supposed green materials. You can use all the plant based resin and flax cloth you want, but if your boards are so lightly built that they are dead and in the dumpster in one or two seasons, you negate any claimed benefit of using alternative materials. Start vacuum bagging and the waste double's, even triple's at times.

That not to say that they shouldnt be trying. Everyone should. The problem is the leveraging of feel good words to sell surfboards. Thats lame AF. "Making a difference?" More like making a profit. If they're actually doing the right thing, people will know about it. The worst part is, is that this becomes the validation behind even more consumption. A person thinks that because the board they just bought is made made of clouds and reclaimed pallet dust, that its ok to just keep buying and using more. Kind of like the whole carbon credit thing. " It's ok for me to fly to Bali to surf, I bought carbon credits!"

Bottom line is, they are still making fast fashion, disposable boards that still go to the landfill.

Whats can we do then? Build strong surfboards for starters. A board that lasts is one less board in the trash. This applies to all manufactured goods. The problem is, everyone wants lightness and the latest greatest shape for that year . The lightness thing is understood, but with lightness comes fragility. There is just no way around it. Ive seen foilboard builders bragging on social media about single digit weights and touting their construction process as "the lightest, most durable construction on the market". Bullshit. One layer of carbon over EPS with a few reinforcment patches is not durable. Its shit.

I think if a person is really concerned about their carbon foot print, looking to an eco marketed board is about the least you can do. There are many ways to make a significantly greater effort.

Here are some fun numbers.

For every hour a single person flys on a commercial flight they genrate 90 KG (198lbs) to 250 KG of carbon.

One acre of mangroves -one of the planets best carbon sequestering palnts- sequesters between 2.5 and 3.5 metric tons of carbon annually.

So using best case scenario mangroves and best case scenario carbon output while flying, one acre will sequester 3500 kilograms of carbon in an entire year.

One person chasing a swell from say Maui to Nazare in Portugal, which is roughly 17 hour flight, with produce 1,620 kilograms of carbon for that one trip. If two people go, they generate 3240 KG, just 260 kilos away from one whole acres annual carbon absorbtion ability.

And how many surfers go on one trip a year? Not many. How about the pro surfers on Instagram that preach about sustainability and saving the planet while they travel the globe burning carbon for the sake of riding waves? 

Using my 2024 travel scedule as an example, I flew to Hood River Oregon to foil, (11 hours) I flew to San Diego (11 hours) and drove into baja to surf (20 hours in the car), Saint Louis for Christmas (9 hours) and a trip to San Francisco to see my brother (another11 hours).

Thats 42 hours of flying time equaling 3780 Kilos of carbon I ceated just to go on vacation.

That occupied another acre of mangroves annual uptake just to go somwhere to fuck around. In the big picture, thats pretty selfish. And I'm one person.

According to the FAA 2,900,000 passengers fly in and out of US airports EVERY DAY. The average flight time is 2.4 hours. That's some staggering math. And a pretty hopeless outlook for future genertions.

On the flip side, a very good friend of mine only surfs his beloved home break and has used the same three surfboards for the last 20 years. He no longer has any interest in traveling to surf, or traveling in general for that matter. Now, if you want to talk sustainability, you cant get much better than that. His latest board is one I made him five years ago and it shows no signs of wearing out any time soon. Heavy glass, triple stringer, vented, bomber. As it should be.

As amazing as it is, surfing is an incredibly selfsih activity for many reasons, environmental impact being at the top of the list. But I think if we can all simplify and sit still long enough to appreciate where we are and what we have instead of chasing the latest and newest feeling, we will have a much better chance at something other than what were facing now.